Mikel Arteta insists Arsenal will “give it a real go” as they look to win a first Premier League title since 2003.
The Gunners celebrated a 2-0 victory over Wolves on Saturday night as they bounced back from their Champions League exit to Bayern Munich and last week’s 2-0 league defeat to Aston Villa.
Arteta talked up the importance of the leaders’ final five Premier League matches, with Arsenal top on goal difference from Liverpool and one point ahead of Manchester City who have a game in hand.
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Arsenal face Chelsea on Tuesday night, with the Blues going into the game on the back of an FA Cup semi-final exit to Manchester City on Saturday.<…
Lucas Hernandez will miss the rest of the World Cup, and likely the remainder of the season, after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
France were dealt a huge blow by injuries ahead of their campaign in Qatar, which began with a 4-1 rout of Australia on Tuesday.
Paul Pogba, N Golo Kante, Karim Benzema and Christopher Nkunku were all ruled out before the tournament started, and now Didier Deschamps has lost another key player.
Hernandez suffered the injury nine minutes into the win over Australia, as he went down clutching his right knee after being turned by Matthew Leckie in the build-up to Craig Goodwin s opening goal.
Deschamps and Hugo Lloris both conceded after the match that it did not look positive for the Bayern Munich defender, and F…
LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham has revealed that he has been left out of the Team GB Olympic football squad.
The former England captain had been included in coach Stuart Pearce s 35-man shortlist, and was expected to be named in the final squad of 18 as one of three over-age players.
Craig Bellamy has already confirmed his place in Pearce s plans and fellow Welshman Ryan Giggs is also reportedly set to be involved.
Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole and Manchester City s Micah Richards have also been linked after both missed out on a place in England s squad for Euro 2012.
Everyone knows how much playing for my country has always meant to me, Beckham said in a statement.
So I would have been honoured to have been part of this unique Team GB squ…
UEFA vice-president Marios Lefkaritis believes Michel Platini should be allowed to stand for the FIFA presidency despite his implication in the corruption scandal that has rocked world football s governing body.
Platini has served as UEFA president since 2007 but was suspended for 90 days by FIFA after the Swiss attorney general opened a criminal investigation into an alleged disloyal payment made by outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter to Platini in 2011.
The payment is widely reported to be £1.35million relating to work the former France captain undertook for FIFA between 1999 and 2002.
Platini had previously announced his intention to stand as a candidate in next year s FIFA presidential election after Blatter laid down his mandate in June, six days after …
Veteran Dutch boss Dick Advocaat has decided to return to Sunderland and sign a one-year deal
Well the Premier League managerial merry-go-round is in full swing once again. Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers looks set for another turn, while Manchester City’s Manuel Pellegrini looks to have got on the ride the wrong way!
All On
It looks like Spanish boss Quique Flores is set to jump on the fun ride that is the Premier League.
The Spanish boss looks set to sign a two-year deal with the Hornets, replacing Slavisa Jokanovic, who seems to be demanding a refund. (Right that should be enough of the merry-go-round references!).
The 50-year-old Spaniard’s biggest claim to fame was helping Atletico Madrid win the Europa League in 2010 against Fulham. He h…
Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone insisted the defending champions will not give up on the LaLiga title following their 2-0 derby defeat to Real Madrid.
El Derbi honours went to Madrid, who accounted for city rivals Atletico thanks to goals from Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.
Benzema opened the scoring with a sublime finish in the 16th minute before Asensio doubled the lead approaching the hour-mark in the Spanish capital.
The result moved Madrid eight points clear at the summit and 13 points ahead of fourth-placed Atletico, who have a game in hand.
However, Simeone – a two-time LaLiga winner with Atletico – is refusing to concede the title race just yet.
FT at the Santiago Bernabéu.
— At…
Shanghai SIPG have defended the decision to shell out €60million on Chelsea playmaker Oscar and say they can help revive his international career.
The big-money move was confirmed last week by the Premier League leaders and will be completed next month, ending the Brazilian s frustrating spell in exile under Antonio Conte.
He is the latest headline signing for the emerging CSL, and SIPG general manager Sui Guoyang conceded that launching what many may consider inflated bids is the only way for Chinese clubs to compete in the transfer market.
The cost of signing the player was €60million indeed, he said. The club s senior management personally flew to Paris to seal the deal.
If we don t offer €60million, do you think he will bother to come? There s…
Didier Deschamps may opt to rest some of his key players for Wednesday s clash against Tunisia with France already through to the knockout stages of the World Cup.
Wins against Australia and Denmark mean the defending champions are almost guaranteed to finish top of Group D and, with such a packed schedule, Deschamps has the luxury of being able to leave out the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Olivier Giroud and Antoine Griezmann.
Les Bleus had Paul Pogba, N Golo Kante, Karim Benzema and Christopher Nkunku ruled out before the tournament started while first-choice left-back Lucas Hernandez lasted just 13 minutes of their opening game against the Socceroos before sustaining a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, and Deschamps seems unlikely to risk more of his star men.
H…
Given that the competition has left him playing with a catheter for the past two seasons, Atletico Madrid midfielder Saul Niguez has an improbably insatiable appetite for the big Champions League moments.
The 22-year-old spoke graphically of his ordeal with a kidney problem, the result of a heavy blow sustained against Bayer Leverkusen in 2015, ahead of Tuesday s quarter-final second leg with Leicester City.
Saul insisted risking his health and passing blood after every match and training session was a worthwhile sacrifice in order to defend these colours, to fulfil this dream .
His tie-settling 26th-minute header in a 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium, directed across Kasper Schmeichel and into the corner with clinical precision, was his third in this season s …
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Middlesbrough play host to Manchester City on Saturday lunchtime in an FA Cup quarter-final clash that will decide which set of fans make a memorable trip to Wembley in April.
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough are in big trouble in the Premier League after finding themselves in the relegation zone and three points from safety. They have picked up just four draws in the last nine games and their goal scoring has been a real issue after netting just twice in that time. However, their form in the FA Cup has been quite the opposite after beating three teams to get to this stage. Although they have played lower league opposition at the Riverside Stadium in all previous rounds, they have still managed to score seven goals a…